love/hate —

Are smartphones “de-evolutionizing” humanity?

Video: the conflicted lives of cell phone owners.

On any given day in New York City, you can see people using their cell phones to take selfies on the Staten Island Ferry, read books on the L train, or hail an Uber car. Like everywhere else in the world, everyone in New York's got a phone.

But when we spent a recent afternoon in Washington Square Park, asking people about their cell phone use, they all had critical things to say. People mediate their lives through Instagram; there's too much texting instead of real talking; sidewalk denizens routinely crash into scaffolding and other pedestrians when staring at their screens.

One woman even offered her own theory on how cell phone use is "de-evolutionizing" the human race. (Still, she had a phone.)

Will we, in the decades to come, work through these conflicted attitude towards the tech we use every day? What will we teach to and model for our children when it comes to screens and gadgets? And is humanity really undoing some of its evolutionary progress? Check out our brief video above and then weigh in through the comments below.